Wave motor



y 19, 1932- R. s. BLAIR 1,868,087

WAVE MOTOR 7 Filed Aug. 8, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 flair.

INVENTOR "July 19,; 1932. s: BLAIIR 1,863,087

.. I WAVE Moron v Filed Aug. 8, 1922 j 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i 1 12:: I f l9,1

Patented July 19, 1932 UNITEDSTATES ROBERT S. BLAIR, OF STAMFORD,GONNECTIC UT PATENT oFFic- Ea WAVE MOTOR Application filed August 8,1922. Serial No. 580,398.;

This invention refers to wave motors and more particularly to apparatusof such form adapted to convert the energy contained in ocean waves intoa more useful form.

One of the objects thereof is to provide a wave motor of simple andpractical construetion and efficient in operation. Another object is toprovide a mechanism capable of converting a high percentage of theenergy contained inocean wavesinto a'useful form available forutilitarian purposes. Another object is to provide an apparatus of theabove nature durable in construction and capable to provide a wave motorcapable of absorbing of ocean waves under all motor including a ofwithstanding the impact of ocean waves for an indefinite period. Anotherobject 1s the wave energy conditions of tide heights. Other objects willbe in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the structurehereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the followingclaims. 7 v

In the accompanying drawings in whlch is shown one ofthe variouspossible embodi- 'ments of this invention, Figure I portion ofthe oceanshore upon which the apparatus is erected;

Figure II is a side elevation in cross section of the wave motor shownin Figure 1,,

the section being taken along the line -1-1 in the direction asindicated by the arrows, certain parts being included which are omittedSimilar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout in theseveral'views of the drawings.

Turning now ings, in Figure 1 there is showna portion of is a plan viewof a formof wave III is a side elevation of the wave.

to the accompanying draw the ocean 9 with a section of an ocean shore 10upon which is erected a concrete structure 11 which serves as a powerhouse and also as j a part of the wave motor. The oceanside of theconcrete structure 11 has formed integral therewith a pair of vertical 7walls. 15 which diverge from each other as they extend away therefromand between them at their point ofconneotion with the, sidewall of theconcrete structure 11 there is a sluiceway; 12

which opens into the stand pipei l3 which is formed bythe wall 14whichdivides the in terior of the concrete structure, 11 into twocompartments. Theremaining part of the interior, of the concretestructure 11 isfdi- Vided up by afloor 18, as shown in Figure II, intotwo parts, the upper compartment 19 and a well or receiving space 20which isconnectedwith the raceway 21 by the'opening 22. The uppercompartment 19 which is roofed over with a concrete slab 23 has mount-'ed on the floor 18 a turbine driven electric r generator 24 ,which hasits water intake connected by a pipe 25 to the stand pipe 18 and itsdischarge is connected to a draught tube 26 which extends downwardnearly ,to the bottom of the well 20 and is shapedatits lower end toobtain the greatest efficiency in the operation of the turbine-drivengenerator-'24.

' The sluiceway 12. is providedlwithfa plurality of gates 27 whichareswiveled at their upper ends on a series of parallelfrods such as 28;the gates 27 are arranged in aseries of parallel; horizontal rows andare arranged .to'

permit water to flow inward into the stand pipe 13 only closing wheneverthere intend encyfor the flow of water to reverse. The

opening 22 isclosed by a similar series of gates'29 which are alsosupport ed'lat their upper ends and are arranged; to permit the flow ofwater from the well-20 o'ut through I the opening 22' into the raceway21' and to close whenever there is a tendency toward a reversal of flowof the water r InFigure II here is shown a concrete slab 30 bridging thespacevbetween the two"'diverging walls 15 and which slopes downward:

a as lit approachesthe front end .oftheicomcrete structure ll until whenit unites-therei a with its lower surface is nearly in lineiwith cretewall 31- arranged to divert the outcOm- 3 a ing stream of water jthroughthe opening 22 and the gates 29 back towards the ocean The action ofthewave motor-above described issubstantially as follows: Turning.11ovvto Figure I and II, as a wave such as is shown in Figure IIapproaches the shore 1Q llOand reaches theopening between the -di-"verging'walls its velocity towards. the shore as it enters between theconverglng walls 15 will increase, asit'advances toward the sluiceway12. Its length diminishes and 15 as the volume ofthe water in motion andcon- *tained in the wave" remains. constant the ve- -there will beaconstant flow T locity of the wave towards the sluiceway 12 IllllSt'increase;sany tendency of the'wa've to increase its elevation beyond auseful-height 20 is retarded by'the-concr'ete slabwhich fur- "-the'rtends to in'creasethe shore-ward velocity of the wave; --The wavefinally reaches the;

, flsluicewayl2 and battering against the gates; f 27 -cause's them toswing open revolving about 25 'therods28 as axes, and gates 27 remainopen- 'as long as the water tends to flow inward therethrough-into thestand pipe 13 raising 7 ii the level ifof'the water contained therein.

"Where a given velocity and height of waves 3 strike againstthe gates 27there will be a cer,

tain average height of water maintained in e the stand pipe'1'3 at alltimes, The water level in the, stand pipe 13 Willremain at thisaverageheight as'long as there is a continual movement of waves towardsthe sluicewaya ""1'2andprovided that an excessiveamount of the turbinedriven elec- V I i I r upon sa d water; and leadingi'rom saidwaves"wateris'not drawn by I "trio generator 24 The 'pe 25 connecting theintake-ofthe turbine ldriven electric generator '24 passes V';""through-the wall 14: at such a place thatwhen i'theocean' 9 is 'atits lowest the water level f" lmaintainedjin the stand pipe 13will'bewel'l 1 above it; The water level in the stand pipe 13 ftherethrough into the turbine driven electric gener t r 24 and therefromdownito the so .idraught tubei26' into the well 20 and there-V- from inturn through the opening 22 out. throughthegates 29 into theracewayi2land finally flowing into the Ocean 9. The level of ;;the waterin the well 20 will be maintained ss at; an gaverage height which, will1 be below; l the levelof thei waterin the ocean 9 at any? i igivenamount due to the action of the gates 29 which permit thewater in thewell'20 to,

* ,Qflow" out therethrough into the raceway 21 e0. whenever the level inthe raceway 21 has been; alowe'red by-the. return flowof thewaterconatained therein immediately following the im I To pactofawaveagainsttheendthereof. This backward flow of the water followingtheim V pact'of an ocean wave on the beach can be US being at alltimesabove theopening of {we '1 p Ointg sluabvystafifiauyfbelowgsaidesmloothreadily-observed by watching the dashing of the waves on any seashore.

paratus it will-be observed that there will be for any given velocityand height of wave a constant head of water ope-rating on the,turbine'driven electric generatorfl as will be rea-dily seen, so thatwhen the height of the water in the stand-pipe 13 dimlnishes as the'w'a'te'r'in the ocean 9 falls at the approach ;of low tide the waterlevel in the well 20 drops to a corresponding degree. The wave motorshown iszso constructed on the shore 1 0" that'n'o iiiatterhow farthetide falls there rwilllalway be as riels q ircares da hin into the spaceetween he W divergi fle 1 21nd,. aspa conver eo h above c'q di i r evena the highe t tid thewa e Willfifi have freeaccess-to the spaceincludedbetween the diverging walls 15 and the concrete-slab tainer adaptedtohold a headof; water.

made of the above 111 ?811111911 changes m ght be nade 1n the.embodiment As various ossibleembodiments:mi htbe r. r. .7 .1 r b Fromthe above arrangement of the app p as u ed ereinis be be iteti i'ssd'blfs nly; to include any suitablereservoir or conabove set forth,it'is to be understood that all i inatter herein set forth or shown inthe acmpa yi s awi is s b gints r l as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

[I claim as my' invention; f

1 In apparatus of the general nature of ha hersinsd s ib d, in om ihv ie d Yoir:;p0s i ed:1' iaq n ab ey.- Q u a p ur ty of. Check {re i exp edlve nt se d e s v i x' a newe n il v ineldsr pharging I a- A point 7 Isubstantially; below 1 ..QQ h-W W levsh n a body n d pt the surface ofthei -water in'said reservoir thereby to utilize the -hydraulio headtrom -16rd; i wefdl Qp n s ch smooth Water level 1 v thereby to utilizethe hydraulic head from the point; substantially :below level," and anoutwardly opening check valve through whlch said discharged water passes2., napp aws Q he" g' e alh t ire o e n S 9 b?l, nic i at on, ar

smooth water, level in saidbody and adapted surface of the water in saidreservoirr to a' said smooth water salve thr gh} whi ij s i' d rsediwassesjand positioned substantially below said check valves exposed towaves upon said body and positioned substantially below said smoothwater level, said first check valves being arranged and adapted to coactwith waves atall tide levels of said body of water and said dischargecheck valve being positioned substantially at or below low tide level.

3. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a reservoir positioned adjacent a body of water, checkvalves exposed towaves upon saidbody of water and adapted to permit thepassage of water from said waves into said reservoir, a power utilizingdevice, means forming a receiving space, means conducting water fromsaid reservoir through said power utilizing device and discharging intosaid receiving space, and an outwardly opening check valve from saidreceiving space having an average discharge capacity greater than theaverage discharge from said water conducting means whereby an air spaceis maintained over said discharged water and the discharge from saidconducting means permitted to continue for a substantial time with saidlast check valve closed.

4. In apparatus ofthe general nature of that herein described, incombination, a reservoir positioned adjacent a body of water,

of water and adapted to permit the passage of water from said waves intosaid reservoir, a power utilizing device, means forming a receivingspace, means conducting waterfrom.

for a substantial time with saidlast check valve closed, said firstcheck valves being arranged and adapted to coact with waves at all tidelevels of said body of water and said level and having an averagedischarge capacity greater than the average discharge from said waterconductingmeans. whereby anair space is maintained over said dischargedwater and the discharge from said conducting 7 means permitted tocontinue for a substantial time with said last check valve closed.

6. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a reservoir positioned adjacent a body of water,

check valves exposed to waves upon said body of water and adapted topermit the passage of water fromsaidwaves into said reservoir, 7 a powerutilizing device, means forming a receiving space, means conductingwater from said reservoir through said power utilizing device anddischarging into said receiving space at a point substantially belowsmooth water level in said body and adapted thereby to utilizethehydraulic head from the sur-;

face of the water in said reservoir to a point below said smooth waterlevel, a discharge I check valve from-said receiving space posij tionedsubstantially below said smooth water level and having an averagedischarge ca-' pacity greater than the average discharge from said waterconducting means whereby an air space 18 maintained over said dischargedwater and the discharge from said conducting means permitted to continuefor a substantial time with said last check valve closed, said inletcheck valves being arranged and adapted to coact; with waves at all tidelevels and said discharge check valve being positioned substantially ator below low tide level.

In testimony whereof I have signed my 7 name to thisspecification this5th day'of August, 1922. r V

V ROBERT S. BLAIR.

iio

last check valve being positioned substantially at or below low tidelevel.

. 5. In apparatus of the general nature of that herein described, incombination, a reservoir positioned adjacent a body of water, checkvalves exposed to waves upon said body of water and adapted to permitthe passage of water from said waves into said reservoir, I a power utilzing device, means forming a receiving space, means conducting waterfrom said reservoir through said powerutilizing device and discharginginto said receiving space at a point substantially below smooth waterlevel in said body and adapted thereby to utilize the hydraulic headfrom the surface of the water in said reservoir to a point below saidsmooth water level, a discharge check valve from said receiving spacepositioned substantially below said smooth'w'ater

